CHAPTER 5 RETHINKING THE ROLE OF STANDARDIZED TESTS

For nearly a century, colleges and have used scores as a measure of applicants’ academic skills and a predictor of their future academic performance.1 Standardized tests like the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and American College Testing (ACT) exam were initially intended to help find the “diamond in the rough,” or high-achieving students from underserved backgrounds.2 Putting aside the bias embedded within the tests themselves, this very notion perpetuates the idea that only a few, rare students of color or students from low-income backgrounds are deserving of an at a selective college.3

“The Most Important Door That Will Ever Open": Realizing the Mission of Higher Chapter 5 • 45 Education through Equitable Recruitment, Admissions, and Enrollment "There's talent everywhere. There's talent in rural America, there's talent in black and brown communities, and…the standard metrics that we may use to identify such talent are inadequate."

—Wendell D. Hall, PhD, during his tenure as senior director, higher education, The

“The Most Important Door That Will Ever Open": Realizing the Mission of Higher Chapter 5 • 46 Education through Equitable Recruitment, Admissions, and Enrollment Policies Today, standardized test scores serve as a gatekeeper to the upward mobility that higher education offers, on their face a neutral judge while, in practice, maintaining racial and socioeconomic disparities. Indeed, David Hawkins, Chief Education and Officer at National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC), characterized the use of the SAT and ACT as grounded in “layers upon layers of privilege.”

Institutions use standardized tests in their admissions process for several reasons, including as a way to generate recruitment leads and as a strategy for assessing the large volume of applications they receive.4 It is true that face significant administrative pressures in their recruitment efforts (as discussed in Chapter 1) and, in some cases, receive overwhelming numbers of applications. However, these reasons do not reduce the inequities embedded within the SAT and ACT, especially for wealthy institutions with substantial admissions budgets. Institutions need to allocate the resources, financial and otherwise, required to review applications in an equity-minded way.

In the wake of widespread testing closures due to the COVID- 19 pandemic, just under 2.2 million students took the SAT in 2020, about 22,000 students fewer than the previous year.5 The pandemic had a clear impact on students from low- income backgrounds: test takers using the fee waiver fell from 427,442 in 2019 to 376,468 in 2020.6 Despite the drop in test-takers, highly selective public and private colleges saw increased application numbers for the 2021–22 academic year, suggesting that temporary test-optional policies adopted by many colleges due to the pandemic may have encouraged new applicants to these schools.7

STANDARDIZED TESTS PERPETUATE RACIAL BIAS IN HIGHER EDUCATION Institutions need to allocate the The SAT and ACT were adapted from undeniably racist resources, financial and otherwise, standardized intelligence, or IQ, tests.8 During World War I, the U.S. Army used some of the earliest aptitude tests on recruits, required to review applications in an resulting in scores that varied based on race and ethnicity.9 equity-minded way. These scores were improperly used to claim that Black and immigrant recruits were of inferior intellect due to biological differences—a belief later used to justify policies of racial segregation.10 In 1926, the SAT was created and adapted from the Army test to measure student intelligence and college readiness,11 and the ACT followed in 1959.12 While the SAT and ACT have since been revised, they are still used widely to determine who is qualified to attend which colleges, despite research demonstrating the tests’ continued racial and cultural biases, the influence of inequitable K–12 funding and policies, and the relative predictive of standardized test scores on college performance.

“The Most Important Door That Will Ever Open": Realizing the Mission of Higher Chapter 5 • 47 Education through Equitable Recruitment, Admissions, and Enrollment Policies College Rankings

The outsized influence of college rankings, like those published by U.S. News & World Report, is seen most clearly in conversations surrounding the role of standardized tests in admissions. This sentiment was repeated throughout our interviews with admissions experts: colleges and universities are hesitant to entirely remove standardized testing from the admissions process for fear of dropping in college rankings, selectivity, and prestige. Five percent of U.S. News & World Report’s ranking is based on the ’s standardized test scores. If fewer than 75 percent of students submit scores, the publication reduces the score awarded to that institution in this category, impacting its ranking.13 While there has been some momentum behind infusing equity-minded metrics into college rankings, the rankings continue to be a force that incentivizes the use of inequitable recruitment, admissions, and enrollment policies. Indeed, institutions that choose to put their ranking first and equity second risk limiting access for postsecondary education’s most underrepresented students—Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and underrepresented AAPI students and students from low-income backgrounds.

Research shows that racial and cultural biases persist in the modern-day versions of the tests.14 For example, questions on which Black and Latinx students perform well are often omitted.15 Too often, the test relies on questions that appear neutral but are actually based on the background knowledge that a typical White, middle-income student would possess. For instance, test question wording can affect how questions are interpreted. The use of idioms may be especially difficult for non-native English For decades, policymakers have speakers, while words with multiple dictionary definitions may be used differently— failed to equitably fund schools though still accurately—by various cultural groups.16 And while the College Board in underserved communities, subjects test questions to rigorous analysis before they are added, independent researchers still find differences across racial groups on certain test items.17 Such depriving many students of color the bias establishes and reinforces stereotypes about who is likely to perform well and is educational resources that facilitate therefore qualified to attend an institution. This becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy if institutions then use test scores to make decisions about who and where to recruit gaining high SAT or ACT scores. for incoming classes.

In addition, persistent racial and socioeconomic disparities within the K–12 education system influence performance on the SAT and ACT. For decades, policymakers have failed to equitably fund schools in underserved communities, depriving many students of color the educational resources that facilitate gaining high SAT or ACT scores. One study found that across the country, school districts with more than 50 percent Black and Latinx enrollment are nearly twice as likely to require greater public funding to meet student needs (or a “funding gap”) than districts with less than 50 percent Black and Latinx enrollment—on average roughly $5,000 per pupil.18 Districts with the highest concentrations of have an average funding gap of roughly $6,700 per pupil.19 Black, Latinx, and low-income students in those districts have access to fewer resources that can prepare them to score well on the SAT or ACT.20

Finally, standardized tests aim to assess applicants’ comprehension of academic content presumably covered from through high school in the interest of predicting whether they will be successful in college if admitted.21 If a student was not, in fact, exposed to that content, the test is not an appropriate tool. Relying on SAT scores can undervalue the potential of students of color, because evidence shows that high school grade point average is a much stronger predictor of college success both during and after a student’s freshmen year. For example, a study commissioned by the of California found that high school grades were a more reliable

“The Most Important Door That Will Ever Open": Realizing the Mission of Higher Chapter 5 • 48 Education through Equitable Recruitment, Admissions, and Enrollment Policies predictor than test scores of a student’s college GPA and the likelihood of graduating within four years.22 Other studies have confirmed that when controlling for socioeconomic factors, high school grades—not the SAT—are more predictive of first-year college grades, second-year persistence, and five-year graduation rates.23 STANDARDIZED TESTS ARE EXPENSIVE AND PERPETUATE SOCIOECONOMIC INEQUITIES

Conversations about college affordability typically focus on rising tuition costs, food and housing insecurity, and racial disparities in student loan borrowing and default rates. However, students incur college-related costs well before they are admitted to a college or university—especially if they are seeking to boost their standardized test scores. The Varsity Blues scandal revealed just how much money some wealthy parents are willing to spend to ensure their children have the test scores necessary to gain admittance to well-resourced institutions. Indeed, preparing for and taking standardized tests can cost thousands of dollars (see Standardized Test Cost Calculator).

Standardized Test Cost Calculator $52 - $70 per test $1,000 - $10,000 SAT AND ACT TEST COSTS TEST PREP CLASSES/TUTORING Applicants spend $52 ($68 including the essay) 24 Preparatory classes range from $1,349 for the for the SAT or $55 ($70 including the essay) 25 Princeton Review’s SAT and ACT Guaranteed 28 for the ACT.* classes to upwards of $10,000 with private tutoring companies. For instance, Arbor Bridge $15 - $60 costs range from $213 an hour for 12 hours SAT AND ACT ADDITIONAL COSTS ($2,556 total) to $168 an hour for 60 hours ($10,080 total). 29 For example, applicants may be charged additional fees if they register late ($30) or if they need to change their test date or location ($30). 26 $52 - $10,160** ESTIMATED TOTAL COST

$20 - $35 * Fee waivers are available for students who meet certain eligibility criteria and must be obtained through their high school guidance TEST PREP BOOKS COSTS counselor or a representative of an authorized community-based organization.30 Applicants cannot use fee waivers for more than Applicants can purchase the offi cial ACT two SAT registrations or four ACT registrations. 31 and SAT study guides for approximately $20 **Total costs can be as low as $0 if, for example, the student is 27 to $35. eligible for a fee waiver and does not purchase or participate in test-prep resources or classes.

“The Most Important Door That Will Ever Open": Realizing the Mission of Higher Chapter 5 • 49 Education through Equitable Recruitment, Admissions, and Enrollment Policies Students incur college-related costs well before they are admitted to a college or university—especially if they are seeking to boost their standardized test scores.

“The Most Important Door That Will Ever Open": Realizing the Mission of Higher Chapter 5 • 50 Education through Equitable Recruitment, Admissions, and Enrollment Policies Students who re-take standardized tests or participate in expensive test preparation tend to receive higher test scores.32 Working with a private tutor—the costliest form of test preparation—is particularly effective at improving an applicant’s retest score. Other, less expensive forms of test preparation activities, such as reviewing online test prep materials, have a smaller or negligible impact on scores.33

The College Board encourages students to re-take the test, due to the fact that 63 percent score higher on subsequent SAT exams.34 High-income students are more likely to take college admissions tests multiple times.35 This may be because applicants from low-income backgrounds can only use fee waivers to take the SAT twice or the ACT four times, meaning they must pay out of pocket for any additional testing.36 This also means that students benefit by first taking the test early in high school, a strategy high-income students are more likely to employ because of their greater access to college counselors who advise them to test early and often.37 In fact, students from low-income backgrounds may be less likely to take the test at all. In one study, just one-third of students from lower-income urban neighborhoods in Boston who planned to attend a four-year institution had taken an exam by the fall of their senior year, compared with 98 percent of students in a wealthier nearby suburb.38

Institutions may also require students to submit scores to be eligible for institutional non-need-based aid— even when test scores are not factored into admissions decisions.39 Since students from low-income backgrounds and first-generation students are likely to opt out of sending their scores when given the option, these policies can limit their access to vital financial aid opportunities. Research reveals that it is harder for students who do not submit test scores to secure institutional non-need-based aid compared with those who submit scores.40 For example, Hofstra University, which is test-optional for admissions, only considers students who submit test scores as eligible for the most generous non-need-based scholarships.41 A study of 33 public and private test-optional colleges found that academically talented students who did not submit test scores—and were disproportionately first-generation students, recipients, and women—were less likely to receive non-need-based financial aid than those who did submit test scores.42 THE ROLE OF STANDARDIZED TESTS IN ADMISSIONS DECISIONS

Over the last decade, selective institutions have started to recognize that requiring students to submit standardized test scores perpetuates racial and socioeconomic inequities in higher education. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the share of institutions requiring applicants to submit scores for the SAT and/or the ACT had declined by 23 percentage points.43 Approximately two-thirds (68 percent) of selective private nonprofit institutions require student test scores, whereas the vast majority of selective public institutions (87 percent) require them for admissions decisions (Figure 5.1).

Some colleges and universities have changed how they use standardized tests by implementing the following policies:

» Test-flexible: Students are allowed to » Test-free: Students are not required to submit scores from other exams, such as submit any standardized test scores and the (AP) or an institution will not consider submitted International Baccalaureate (IB), rather test scores when deciding whether or not than the SAT or ACT.44 to admit an applicant. Test-free institutions often take a more holistic » Test-optional: Students are allowed, but approach to making admissions not required, to submit test scores as decisions, considering applicants’ part of their application for admission. If grades, extracurricular activities, students choose to submit their scores, essays, and other factors like the institutions may consider them in academic rigor of their courses. admissions decisions.

“The Most Important Door That Will Ever Open": Realizing the Mission of Higher Chapter 5 • 51 Education through Equitable Recruitment, Admissions, and Enrollment Policies FIGURE 5.1 Test Requirements Among Selective Four-Year Colleges

Overall 56% 7% 8%

Public, All 71% 8% 8% Highly Selective, Public 74% 7% More Selective, Public 69% 11% 9% Somewhat Selective, Public 74% 6% 8%

Least Selective, Public 64% 9% 12%

Private Nonprofi t, All 52% 7% 9% Highly Selective, Private 50% 6% 10% More Selective, Private 57% 6% 11% Somewhat Selective, Private 56% 7%7% Least Selective, Private 44% 11% 8%

KEY

Required Recommended Required for Some

Source: Institute for Higher analysis of Undergraduate & Undergraduate Financial Aid Databases compiled by Peterson’s as part of the Common Data Set Initiative, 2019. Note: Excludes colleges with open admissions, foreign institutions, for-profi t institutions, and military academies. Selectivity categories generated from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). See technical appendix for detailed methodology.

While test-flexible and test-optional policies represent Another analysis found no significant effect of test-optional incremental progress, they do not necessarily offer a policies on racial, socioeconomic, or diversity at private, guaranteed path to increasing campus diversity.45 When given nonprofit, and public institutions.49 However, more recent the option, first-generation college students, students of color, studies of test-optional programs that include more institutions women, Pell Grant recipients, and students with learning and consider outcomes over a longer time period find that when differences are most likely to be “non-submitting applicants,” institutions with these policies are compared to similar meaning they opt out of including test scores in their application institutions that require tests, evidence emerges that the for admission.46 However, just allowing students to forgo policies do indeed increase diversity.50 These new findings may submitting scores does not necessarily change which students indicate that test-optional polices implemented in a thoughtful, are accepted and ultimately enroll. A study of more than 100 equity-minded way can advance access for historically liberal arts colleges between 1999 and 2014 found that going underrepresented groups. test-optional led to higher average SAT scores—since students with lower scores were less likely to submit those as part of their In sum, White and wealthy students stand to benefit the most application—but enrollment among students of color did not when institutions consider standardized test scores in increase.47 Similarly, when researchers examined changes in admissions decisions. And the idea that test scores may diversity at 180 selective liberal arts colleges over nearly two uncover a “diamond in the rough” is no justification for the decades, they found that the 32 institutions that adopted continued use of an exclusionary tool. Beyond the substantial test-optional policies had lower proportions of Pell Grant costs associated with taking and performing well on the test, recipients and students of color enrolled than the institutions research makes clear that standardized tests reinforce that continued to require test scores for admission.48 historical racial inequities in our higher education system.

“The Most Important Door That Will Ever Open": Realizing the Mission of Higher Chapter 5 • 52 Education through Equitable Recruitment, Admissions, and Enrollment Policies OPENING THE DOOR TO OPPORTUNITY: RETHINK THE ROLE OF STANDARDIZED TESTS

To truly cultivate diversity, address the inequities that standardized tests propagate, and dismantle racist and classist practices within higher education, institutions should go test-free. That is, they should stop considering standardized test scores in admissions decisions and take a more holistic approach.

AS COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES NO LONGER REQUIRE TEST SCORES IN ADMISSIONS DECISIONS: PREPARE FOR THEIR NEXT Privileged students who are better positioned to receive high scores will continue to benefit from their use in admissions and ADMISSIONS CYCLE, THEY SHOULD financial aid decisions, even when tests are optional. Therefore, IMPLEMENT CHANGES TO THEIR institutions should remove test score requirements altogether (go test-free) and adopt more holistic admissions approaches ADMISSIONS POLICIES THAT that consider multiple measures, including a student’s unique, IMPROVE EQUITY ON CAMPUS, LIKE nonacademic experiences alongside traditional metrics such THESE MEASURES: as grades.51 Holistic review allows institutions to view an applicant through a more nuanced lens to judge if a student will be successful at the institution.52

MAKE TEST-OPTIONAL POLICIES PERMANENT: If institutions are not willing to eliminate their use of standardized test scores in admissions and financial aid decisions, they should consider making permanent any temporary policies that deemphasize its role. Due to logistical challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, many institutions have temporarily waived test score requirements.53 But underserved students face limited access to the tests and test prep services even when not facing a global health crisis.

ENSURE TEST FREE AND TEST-OPTIONAL ADMISSIONS POLICIES ALIGN WITH INSTITUTIONAL FINANCIAL AID POLICIES: Even when test scores are not factored into admissions decisions, some institutions require students to submit scores to be eligible for some institutional grants and scholarships.54 Admissions and financial aid policies must work together for colleges and universities to reach their access and diversity goals.

“The Most Important Door That Will Ever Open": Realizing the Mission of Higher Chapter 5 • 53 Education through Equitable Recruitment, Admissions, and Enrollment Policies CHAPTER 5 ENDNOTES

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“The Most Important Door That Will Ever Open": Realizing the Mission of Higher Endnotes • 99 Education through Equitable Recruitment, Admissions, and Enrollment Policies 27. Costs for the official SAT and ACT study guides may Databases compiled by Peterson’s as part of the vary, these estimates are based on listings found on Common Data Set Initiative, 2008–2019. Note that many http://www.amazon.com on May 4, 2021. more institutions adopted temporary or permanent test-optional policies in 2020 and beyond, due to the 28. Princeton Review. (n.d.). ACT 31+ Guaranteed. https:// difficulty with testing created by the COVID-19 pandemic. www.princetonreview.com/college/act-honors-course; Princeton Review. (n.d.) SAT 1400+ Guaranteed. https:// 44. AP and IB diploma programs provide educational benefits www.princetonreview.com/college/sat-honors-course to students who complete a more rigorous curriculum during high school that often lead to college credit. 29. Arbor Bridge. (n.d.). Pricing. https://www.arborbridge. com/pricing/ 45. Carnevale, A. P. (2020). Much work to be done. Inside Higher Ed. https://www.insidehighered.com/admissions/ 30. College Board. (2020). Fee waiver service student views/2020/08/03/dropping-standardized-tests-only- brochure 2020–21. https://collegereadiness. one-part-equalizing-college-admissions; Baker, D. & collegeboard.org/pdf/sat-fee-waiver-student- Rosinger, K. (2020). Test optional offers benefits but it’s brochure.pdf not enough. Education Next. https://www.educationnext. 31. College Board, 2020, student brochure; and The ACT. org/test-optional-offers-benefits-but-not-enough- (2020). Fee waiver eligibility requirements 2020–2021. forum-should-state-universities-downplay-sat/ https://www.act.org/content/dam/act/unsecured/ 46. Hiss & Franks, 2014. documents/FeeWaiver.pdf 47. Buckley, J., Letukas, L., & Wildavsky, B. (Eds.). 32. Moore, R., Sanchez, E., & San Pedro, M. O. (2018). (2018). Measuring success: Testing, grades, and the Investigating test prep impact on score gains using future of college admissions. JHU Press. quasi-experimental propensity score matching. ACT Working Paper 2018-6. http://www.act.org/content/ 48. Belasco, A. S., Rosinger, K. O., & Hearn, J. C. (2015). The dam/act/unsecured/documents/R1710-investigating- test-optional movement at America’s selective liberal test-prep-impact-2018-07.pdf arts colleges: A boon for equity or something else? and Policy Analysis, 37(2), 33. Moore, Sanchez, & San Pedro, 2018. 206–223. https://www.aera.net/Newsroom/Recent- 34. College Board. (2020). Should I retake the SAT? College AERA-Research/The-Test-Optional-Movement-at- Board Blog. https://blog.collegeboard.org/should-i- Americas-Selective-Liberal-Arts-Colleges-A-Boon- retake-sat for-Equity-or-Something-Else 35. Goodman, J., Gurantz, O., & Smith, J. (2018, August). 49. This analysis looked at a sample of 1,649 (93 Take two! SAT retaking and college enrollment gaps. percent) colleges requiring SAT/ACT scores and 127 NBER working paper #24945. https://www.nber.org/ (7 percent) colleges with a test-optional policy. papers/w24945 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/ 36. College Board, 2020, student brochure; The ACT, 2020, abs/pii/S0165176518304300 Fee waiver. 50. Bennett, C. (2020, November 11). Panel Paper— 37. NACAC Task Force; and Goodman, J., Gurantz, O., & Postsecondary Admissions Policies—Untested Smith, J. (2020, May). Take two! SAT retaking and Admissions: Examining Changes in Application college enrollment gaps. American Economic Journal: Behaviors and Student Body Composition Under Economic Policy, 12(2), 115–158. Test-Optional Policies. APPAM Virtual Fall Research Conference. https://appam.confex.com/appam/2020/ 38. Avery, C., & Kane, T. J. (2004). Student perceptions of meetingapp.cgi/Paper/35990 college opportunities. The Boston COACH program. In C. M. Hoxby (Ed.), College choices: The economics of 51. Association of Public & Land-grant Universities. (n.d.) where to go, when to go, and how to pay for it (pp. Holistic admissions. https://www.aplu.org/members/ 355–394). Press. https://www. commissions/urban-serving-universities/student- nber.org/chapters/c10104.pdf success/holistic.html 39. Hiss, W. C., & Franks, V. W. (2014). Defining promise: 52. Coleman, A. & Keith, J. L. (2018). Understanding holistic Optional standardized testing policies in American college review in higher education admissions: Guiding principles and university admissions. The National Association for and model illustrations. College Board and College Admission Counseling. https://www. EducationCounsel. https://professionals.collegeboard. luminafoundation.org/files/resources/definingpromise. org/pdf/understanding-holistic-review-he- pdf; and NACAC Task Force. admissions.pdf 40. Hiss & Franks, 2014. 53. Jaschik, S. (2020, March 30). Coronavirus drives colleges to test optional. Inside Higher Ed. https://www. 41. College Transitions. (2019). Everything you need to know insidehighered.com/admissions/article/2020/03/30/ about test-optional admissions. https://www. coronavirus-leads-many-colleges-including-some- collegetransitions.com/blog/test-optional-admissions/ are-competitive-go-test 42. Hiss & Franks, 2014. 54. Hiss & Franks, 2014; and NACAC Task Force. 43. Institute for Higher Education Policy analysis of Undergraduate & Undergraduate Financial Aid

“The Most Important Door That Will Ever Open": Realizing the Mission of Higher Endnotes • 100 Education through Equitable Recruitment, Admissions, and Enrollment Policies